The jury trial of the Illinois basketball player accused of raping a woman in a Lawrence bar is set to begin Tuesday – The Lawrence Times

Prosecutors selected 15 jurors on Monday to hear the case against an Illinois basketball player accused of raping an 18-year-old woman at a local bar in September.

Chicago Illini shooting guard Terrence Shannon Jr., 23, is facing one count of rape for having sexual intercourse with a person who did not consent or who was overcome by force or fear, or one count of aggravated sexual assault for touching a person over the age of 16 without consent while the victim was overcome by force or fear.

Eight men and seven women, including two women of color, will decide the case against Shannon, who is black. The woman who accused him is white. Twelve of the jurors will ultimately deliberate on the case.

According to court documents, the incident occurred shortly after midnight on Sept. 9 in the Martini Room of the Jayhawk Cafe (also known as the “Hawk”), 1340 Ohio St. The woman told police she was “groped and raped” by a man she later identified as Shannon, according to an affidavit describing her conversation with Lawrence police Detective Josh Leitner.

The woman told police she went to the bar with a friend after the KU-Illinois football game on the evening of Sept. 8. During her interview, the woman said she was with a friend in the Martini Room, a basement area that sometimes serves as a sort of VIP room for KU athletes.

The woman said she and her friend had just left the Martini Room when an unknown man flagged them down. The affidavit states that the woman and her friend made their way through the crowd back to the man, who reportedly immediately grabbed the woman’s buttocks to pull her closer to him. He then “almost immediately slid his finger under her underwear and inserted it into her vagina.”

The woman said the penetration lasted between five and ten seconds, and the entire incident lasted no more than 30 seconds. The woman said she was not restrained in any way, but was speechless and unable to pull away from the man due to the confined space.

She said she did not confront the man at the time and left the bar a short time later with her friend.

The woman told police that Shannon was in the Martini Room with KU athletes she knew. She said she identified Shannon through social media and an internet search. According to court documents, phone records show that the woman used her phone between 2:15 and 3:45 a.m. to search the rosters of KU football and basketball players and then those of Illinois basketball players.

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After identifying Shannon on the Illini basketball squad, the woman told police she found an Instagram post that showed a photo of Shannon at the KU football game on Sept. 8. He was identifiable because parts of his hair were dyed different colors, the woman said.

The woman called Lawrence Police at 3:30 p.m. on September 9 to report the incident.

On Friday, defense attorney Tricia Bath of the Leawood law firm Bath & Edmonds PA successfully filed a motion to include in the hearing information about an incident involving a third party that she believes is relevant to the case.

The defense is expected to discuss details of the allegations against former KU basketball player Arterio Morris, who was accused of raping a woman in his room at McCarthy Hall late last summer. The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office dropped that charge in April, saying there was insufficient evidence. However, an investigation into the case resulted in charges against Morris for allegedly sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman at The Hawk, less than two weeks before the woman in Shannon’s case went public.

No charges were filed against Morris in connection with the alleged incident at The Hawk. He was fired from the KU basketball program after being charged in the case, which was later dropped.

Three KU basketball players are listed as possible witnesses in Shannon’s case. Senior center Hunter Dickinson, senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. and sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson are among the police officers, investigators and health professionals who could be called as witnesses. Being listed as a witness does not necessarily mean that someone was an eyewitness to an incident, but rather that law enforcement believes they have information related to an alleged crime.

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Shannon was arrested in December but remains at large after posting $50,000 bail.

ESPN reported that Shannon missed six games before his lawyers fought and won to have him reinstated to the Illini roster in January. The team eventually made it to the NCAA tournament. ESPN listed Shannon among its most promising NBA prospects.

Douglas County Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal and Assistant District Attorney Samantha Foster took over the case last week on behalf of the prosecution because of scheduling conflicts with another trial. The defense team includes Mark Sutter of the Sutter Law Group, which is based in Bath and Chicago.

Before dismissing the jury for the day, Douglas County District Judge Amy Hanley cautioned jurors to refrain from any media exposure, explaining that cases with greater media interest, including those involving athletes, may be of a larger magnitude than most other cases.

Opening statements in the trial begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

All those arrested and accused in criminal proceedings should be presumed not guilty unless convicted.

Andrea Albright (she/her), reporter, can be reached at aalbright (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. You can find more information about her work for the Times here. You can find her staff bio here.

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